{"product_id":"9781554685042","title":"A Reliable Wife","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eA Reliable Wife\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Robert Goolrick\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eSet in a small Wisconsin farming town crumbling under the impact of the troubled economic times of the 1890s, \u003cem\u003eA Reliable Wife\u003c\/em\u003e tells the story of Ralph Truitt, a wealthy businessman who advertises for “a reliable wife” in a Chicago newspaper. The woman who answers, Catherine Land, describes herself as “a simple, honest woman,” but in truth she is both complex and devious -- not the missionary’s daughter she describes in her letter but a courtesan of great beauty, kept by men and haunted by a terrible past. Her plan in accepting the marriage offer is simple: she will win this man’s devotion and then, over time, poison him and leave Wisconsin a wealthy widow. What she has not counted on, though, is the passion she finds in this seemingly solid, forthright man -- a man who also harbours secrets and whose past is far from pure.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFilled with remarkable characters and drenched with colour and atmosphere, \u003cem\u003eA Reliable Wife\u003c\/em\u003e is a story of love and madness, longing and murder, played out in a world that seems to have gone temporarily off its axis.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e“A glittering, poisoned ice cube of a tale . . . eminently readable.”\u003cbr\u003e“A weighty psychodrama laced with Hitchcockian suspense.”\u003cbr\u003e“[A] beautifully written, beautifully dark book. Goolrick is a superb writer.”\u003cbr\u003e “A killer debut novel . . . suspenseful and erotic . . . [A] chillingly engrossing plot . . . good to the riveting end.”\u003cbr\u003e“A gothic tale of . . . smoldering desire . . . The novel is deliciously wicked and tense, presented as a series of sepia tableaux, interrupted by flashes of bright red violence . . . Once you’ve fallen into the miasma of \u003cem\u003eA Reliable Wife\u003c\/em\u003e, it’s intoxicating.”\u003cbr\u003e“This engrossing and addictive novel will leave you both chilled and satisfied.”\u003cbr\u003e“A thrilling, juicy read . . . The writing is beautiful and the story is captivating. It’s a real page-turner.”\u003cbr\u003e“A tantalizing pace that will have you flipping faster and faster through the pages . . .  A beautiful and haunting read, a story about all the different manifestations of love―a story that will stay with you.”\u003cbr\u003e“Completely original. . . .The unforeseen conclusion provides a big payoff for readers of this tension-laden debut from a promising new talent.”\u003cbr\u003e“A sublime murder ballad that doesn’t turn out at all the way one might expect.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9781554685042\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Harper Perennial","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":41108221821134,"sku":"9781554685042","price":13.85,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/9781554685042.jpg?v=1649649802","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9781554685042","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}